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WP#45: Four Cs That Fitness Clubs Must Perfect

This past couple of weeks the recreation center I work at has no hot water for showers, and this problem was right after we finish renovating the pool that was shutdown for a month. Problems like having no hot water for shower is not unusual for gyms, and our recreation center will be alright. For we nearly are perfect in the other three Cs that needs to be master for fitness clubs to survive in the competitive market.

After being part of the fitness industry for under a decade I experienced it as a trainer, sells consultant, and front desk. I worked in the fitness industry in the Northern Virginia area for nearly three years. I seen gyms come and go. For the Northern Virginia area is consider to be part of the top five most healthy places in the US. I remember three years ago when I just got here that I would go to sporting good stores to understand the fitness market here, that I would see huge sections for yoga stuff. That told me yoga is huge here, and having yoga classes in gyms brings huge numbers for gyms. Well yoga has different kinds of classes that fade and trend. When certain Yoga classes fade, gyms are already looking or investing into the new kind of yoga to survive in the fitness industry. These gyms put up a lot of money to gamble on the next yoga trend to hope to turn up a profit, but most times they do not. For there a lot of factors a gym must be good at for any investment they make to have a chance. A gym with no hot water for a while has better chance of surviving in the fitness industry than a gym banking on the newest equipment or classes.

Before Becoming A Major Player In The Fitness Industry

What I noticed when I observed the last Top 100 fitness clubs like 2 years ago was that big chain gyms like Gold’s are like old whales being eaten off by small hungry fish. The small hungry fish are smaller gyms that focus training a certain way with small groups of people like Cross-Fit and UFC Gyms. This should be known, because people that want to have some sort of ownership in the fitness industry needs to figure what type of training they want to present. For major gym chains are dying, because people know with technology know how they want to train, and half of not most gym goers do not want to invest a lot of money to a huge gym that they will not use most of.

Now if you are part of a major gym like Golds or 24 then you are in a blood war with other gyms. For all of those gyms are the same, so how are you going to set yourself apart from your competitors? That is a question you must ask.

For you to be alive in the gym blood bath wars you need revenue, and you need to know basic math to know how to add up your revenue. Now this post is not about that, but it’s about what is the four Cs your gym must perfect. Aiming to perfect these four Cs will bring in continue revenue that is the gyms life source. Without it, the gym does not exist.

What Are The 4 Cs?

Now these four Cs do not have to be in order, but they need to be known.

The first C I want to present is cleanliness. If your gym is nasty, then your place will not just die because of smell. It will die from lack of continue revenue because most people do not want to train at a nasty place. If the gym is not clean and you are thinking about bringing the next gym trend to your gym, then you better check yourself before you wreck yourself. If your gym smells like a sewer, then no one wants to train at your gym even with the newest gym trend. Even the newest gym trend will not be in your smelly gym. Therefore you should keep your gym clean.

The next C is customer satisfaction, and your members not satisfy means your revenue will dry up soon. Now you do not need to do a bogus gym survey to figure out how to satisfy members. The first way to satisfy members is to master the first c of cleanliness. With the gym equipment, you have make sure those are clean and usable. When it comes to the front desk, have people that smile and are kind all the time on their shift. When it comes to sells people, hire honest people, and train them the right way with the right information. When it comes to trainers, hire ones that know how to train by being honest and know how to manage time by showing up way before the time of their client’s starting time. Also, open your gym with what you advertise it to be opened.

The next C is convenience. Before you break ground or sign lease on a building, be sure your gym is accessible to the population you are trying to draw. Try to make it within walking distance for your members.

The final C is cost. It does not matter what you charge as long as it is within the fair market value of what you know people will pay for. When you set a price for your members agreed upon based on the services you say you will provide in exchange for their money, you better deliver those services. If not, then it does matter what your gym costs for people to train t, because people will eventually stop going to your gym. That means eventually your cash flow will cease even though your gym rates are affordable. For whatever your gym costs you better deliver on your promises.

If you become a master of these 4 Cs, then your gym may survive in the fitness industry.